[AlanOrton1]

Arrived at T5 on 27/8, at immigration around 16:30 and next to no queue for either e-gate or manual check.
However, only 2 officers on the manual check, so could see queues increasing as soon as a few long hauls arrived.

Departing from MAD, no queue at all for passport control!
Arriving at VLC a few weeks before and passports were glanced at, at most, certainly not the new, full check that I read had been introduced.

[K1ngston]

alainboy56 I absolutely agree with your comments and also dont understand why the guy called you out, I think you just spoke for most of us here!

I have mentioned many times, I am English, I have a UK passport but I dont live in the UK and have not done for years, I spend the best part of my time on the “sub continent” where apart from a few glitches I am able to travel smoothly and without fuss or hinderance and then I arrive back into the “motherland” and realise what a complete “third” world mess it really is.

I have been travelling for almost 30 years and I quickly learnt that the experience you receive at the Countries main airport will more often or not give you and idea of how the country is, the welcome you will get and generally what to expect. In 30 years its let me down a couple of times. My experiences the last few times I have visited the UK with my fiancé and now husband have highlighted the complete unsatisfactory way UK Border Control is manned, staffed and works. For me its beyond 3rd world and bordering on 4th or 5th!

I dont buy the undermanning, why put in Electronic Gates and then close them because of lack of staff, or why have someone come up to me and ask whether they can help me and when I suggest opening more gates they say that they cannot do that, so you cant help me so go away! I urge the “numpties” to go to Delhi and see how it works. It does!

And why am I allowed with my British passport to travel through E gates in most countries but we dont extend that courtesy or privilege back?

With this in mind Alain I agree with 95% of what you say, I dont think your racist, I think as you say you’re saying it how it is… And before said person accuses me of being a racist, I can assure and those that know me will attest I am the least racist most multicultural person, I am just saying what I see and how it looks from the outside

[capetonianm]

My particular gripe is the sometimes aggressive ‘assistants’ who try to force you to go to the machines. I don’t like machines, and I prefer to deal with a human being than to put my passport into a machine and stand there while a computer decides whether it likes my face or not and whether to open the gate.

I was asked once why I didn’t want to go to the machines and I told the woman that not wanting to use them is sufficient reason and I am not obliged to give a further explanation or answer. She made a sarcastic remark about ‘if you want to waste your time then ……’.

[garrison76]

Not making accusations, K1ngston, just expressing my opinion, for that is what this forum is all about, n’est-ce pas? It seems for you and alainboy56, racism is very much in the eye of the beholder, and we clearly have very different points of view.

Toodle pip.

[K1ngston]

garrison76, absolutely and I respect your opinion and point of view, I didnt like you calling someone out for what in reality is exactly how it is…that was my point!

As for the “racism” piece I have been accused and called many things over the years for my religion, the person I am and still discriminated against in many countries and cultures, so please I abhor racism or discrimination in any way shape or form so lets agree to disagree over semantics and move on?

[alainboy56]

@garrison76 — and that is precisely why UK and other countries in Europe have severe problems, due to a PC fear of appearing racist, when all that is required is some control, in UK’s case (and IMO Germany, Belgium and France) ‘any control’ would be an improvement, because at the moment they have completely lost control and has I have imparted here, do not know what they are doing. And that, is endangering people’s lives. In France, once upon a time for mistakes/failures, the populus would shout ‘off with their heads’! So why not today’s equivalent? Would that be ‘cut off their indexed pensions’?

[canucklad]

I thought I’d share both a heart-warming story, but at the same time a story tinged with sadness, despair and ultimately anger.

A mature lady, with a ton of life experience has joined our organization as a call centre agent.
Here’s her back story………

Proudest achievement in life: Working at EDI and sensing all is not right with a young female EU national attempting to enter the UK. Turns out, our new colleague’s inner intuition /gut feeling has been sparked into life, and as a result has rescued this poor waive from a life of sex slavery in the very dark and bleak side of Scotland, that we don’t see. I was humbled when she told us the story!!

Reason for career change: Although she loved her previous job and thought she was making a difference, could no longer handle the increased stress caused by interference, unrealistic tagets, increasingly decreasingly taffing levels linked to emotionally blackmailed overtime she was having to do as a consequence. Basically, her quality of life had deteriorated in recent years.

What leaves me in despair and anger (see proudest moment) is, this person’s wealth of experience has been lost to the better good of humanity and is now doing a job that isn’t going to make critical life changing judgements. She made a difference, now she doesn’t!

[MartynSinclair]

The most miserable young girl showcasing a “Welcome to the UK”

E gates in T5 tonight, just 6 working and then some failed resulting in passengers at the far end diverting into the secondary lane to have a manual check.

The young looking girl, showed a total disinterest in all passengers. Most said good evening, she couldn’t even give them eye contact. When i smiled & said ‘Good evening’ – I could have been the devil to her, she just stared straight through me. I couldn’t help myself impart a “welcome to the UK” remark, to which she took my passport for an extended 15 second check to see if it was a forgery.

There were plenty of supervisors behind the lines – pity they couldn’t have manned one of the spare 3 immigration boxes to allow more E gates to be open..

Such a shame T5 continues to be one of the rudest terminals both when trying to leave the country and again when trying to get back in…

[Author]

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